Santa's Arrival
by MagicAlpha
Summary: Nick's older sister hasn't believed in Santa Claws for quite some time, but all of that changes one faithful Christmas Eve when the two siblings spot the jolly polar bear himself delivering presents for them. A little Christmas story I wrote to get ready for the approaching holidays.


"Dear Santa… How have things been up at the North Pole? How is Mrs. Claws? I've done my best to be really good this year, except for when my sister and I fight..."

The young fox paused a moment, looking back at what he already had wrote down on his annual letter to the one and only Santa Claws. He tapped his pencil against the wooden table as he thought of what to jot down next. He already established that he had been on his best behavior throughout the course of the year, and what was next to write was what he wished for this holiday season.

He muttered aloud what he was scribbling down on the paper as he continued. "All I want this year is the new action figure from the Vulpine Force. They are my _favorite _superheroes ever! Also, I hope you enjoy the cookies I left out for you. I left you a pecan praline for something different too. It's my Aunt Sally's recipe, and my mom learned how to bake 'em and decided to whip up a batch. They are the best; you won't be disappointed. I-"

"Did I just hear you say something about me earlier?" a female voice called from behind, interrupting his trail of thought.

Nick turned around to see his older sister, Natalie, looking over at him with a grin—typical of her—on her muzzle.

"Let's see what your writing out here" she muttered, walking up and swiping the letter that his younger brother had been writing. She held it up high enough that he couldn't reach for it and snatch out of her grasp.

"Hey!" Nick cried. "Give it back! I'm not finished yet!"

His sister produced a snicker, which resulted in her letting out a small laugh. "Can't believe it."

"Can't believe what?"

"That you're still writing letters by paw to Santa Claws." Natalie paused, putting on a deadpan expression. "Wait a second. I just realized that you don't know the truth." She sighed heavily. "I hate to be the one to tell ya this, Nick, but Santa…" She became hesitant to continue upon seeing the look of concern on her little brother face.

"What is it?" Nick inquired. "Tell me."

The vixen standing before him sighed, beginning to improvise. "He can't read writing when it's small and jumbled together like that. He's quite old so he can't see that kind of stuff quite well. What I'd suggest doing is maybe writing the words a little bit bigger, that way he can see them nice and clear."

Nick responded, "Gee, thanks for the tip, sis. You saved me big time!"

Natalie's response was nothing more than a nod of her head, and she placed the letter back where it had been sitting before.

As he watched his sister walk away from the table, Nick turned back to the note, starting to erase the sloppier parts and write them again, this time as neat as he could.

* * *

Natalie shook her head as she watched the predictable silliness of the classic Christmas cartoon playing on television unfold before her, her brother only a couch cushion away from her. As the character on the show ended up saving the holidays for kits across the world, she held up the remote and proceeded to change the channel.

Nick tugged at her arm as the picture went away, being replaced with a holiday commercial for a retail store that played on the succeeding channel. "Hey, I was watching that!" he said.

"Haven't you watched that, like, a hundred times already?" Natalie asked in reply.

"Yeah, but it's really good. Besides, you've seen that movie you have a poster of in your room more than anyone. You know, the one with that farmhand who sets out to rescue his true love."

"That movie's an _experience_, though. It's got fencing and fi-"

"Mhmm," Nick interrupted before she could finish. "Heard it before."

"Oh, like that silly movie about some place called Naboombu you love is so much better?" her sister replied.

What Natalie settled on watching was the game show that normally played at this point of the night. After their mother ended up having to work overnight this Christmas Eve, she was put in charge of things. And Nick, in the back of his head, wasn't the happiest about said circumstances, even though he wouldn't actually admit it out loud.

The fox kit turned his head away from the show, towards the digital numbers of the clock on the microwave over in the kitchen. When he saw that the time read seven minutes past nine o'-clock, he bolted up like he was participating in some sort of drill.

Storming out of the room in a flash as the clock ticked another minute away, Nick quickly ran into his room, yanked the sheets of his bed down and jumped inside of it. This earned a somewhat puzzled look from his sister, who had just come into his room wondering why he had dashed out of the living room in such a manner.

"Everything okay, little bro?" Natalie asked. "You were runnin' like a bolt of lightning."

"It's past nine o'-clock," Nick replied. "Gotta get to sleep so Santa can come and bring-"

"Okay, slow down," his sister interrupted, a chuckle following it afterwards. "As fast as you are right now, I'd would've sworn you've been eatin' from some secret candy stash you've got hiding somewhere."

"Sis!" Nick giggled to her in reply. "You know better. I'm just super excited for Santa, you know?"

She simply nodded her head and tucked him into bed better, proceeding to walk away.

The remark about how Santa couldn't come until you were asleep echoing in his head, his mind ended up hatching a clever idea. "That's it!"

"What?" Natalie responded.

The fox kit sat up in bed. "Just hear me out a minute. If I _pretended _to be asleep but actually stayed awake, I just might be able to see him in the flesh. Think about it: I'd be the first fox to see Santa with his own eyes and live t' tell about it. What do you think?"

His sister only shook her head at his imagination levels. With a shrug of her shoulders, she replied, "Whatever floats your boat," as she walked out of his room and slowly shut the door.

* * *

Natalie sat in her bedroom in silence, sighing as she read a chapter from the paperback novel she had sitting previously on her little dresser. The only light source to illuminate the pages for her to see was the yellowish bulb in the lamp beside her.

Placing the little bookmark she had beside on the page she stopped reading at, she plopped the story of teenage romance to her side and let out a sigh. Putting her paws behind her head, she stared blankly at the ceiling, thoughts of how exuberant his little brother was for the arrival of Santa.

How she wished that she could go back to a time where she basically experienced the same level of indestructible enthusiasm. Ever since the death of her father, which occurred on a December back when Nick was really, really young, she had stopped believing in those kinds of things. It was all illogical make-believe in her mind, a pigment of the imagination.

She almost wanted to just let her brother know, but, seeing how excited he just was, hated to be the one to ruin the fun and crush his spirits. Instead, for the time being, she just had to go along with it like she felt she was supposed to.

* * *

**_Some Time Later…_**

All the lights in the house had been turned off, and the majority of the town, considering the time of night, was also slumbering softly. The exclusion to the town sleeping was Nick, who was doing his darnedest to remain awake.

His eyelids were barely open and he was starting to feel as if he would be unable to complete the mission. That coffee that his mother liked the drink in the morning could possibly help him stay awake, but he hated the taste of it. He recalled trying a little sip of it one time and thinking the flavor of it was absolutely disgusting. He thought, perhaps, that the taste it was something that grown-ups became accustomed to, but until that day came he wouldn't be certain.

He turned onto his side and stared at his bedroom door, which had been left open with the tiniest crack from Natalie not closing it completely. No sounds whatsoever, except for the crickets letting out their friendly chirping outside.

Nick, after a few minutes had passed, ended up falling into a very small state of asleep, not large for him to have any dreams. It didn't last too long, however, when he ended up hearing the sound of large steps being made from out in another room.

The little vulpine's eyes immediately opened the moment his sensitive ears detected the noise. He bolted straight up, pulling the sheets down and quietly but swiftly making his way over towards the door.

_Could it be? _he thought. _Could it really be Santa that I'm hearing?_

He reached a small paw up for the doorknob and turned it, and his exit from the room opened with a creak that, luckily, wasn't too loud. Why did that door have to creak during a moment like this?

Nick shrugged that off and tiptoed towards the middle of the hall, which lead out to the living room (where their little Christmas tree had been placed) and small dining area where he presumed the noise was coming from. He deciphered that couldn't have been his sister out there, because she was still in her room with her door shut tight.

His back against the wall like a spy trying to infiltrate a secret lair, he slowly turned around to get a glimpse of who was out there. Not a light was on within that portion of their home, but it was thanks to his night vision that came with being a fox that he could see.

Nick heard large paws walking against the floor, and saw a tall, portly figure pass by. Trying to get a better look at what he had just briefly saw, the young tod creeped as carefully as he could towards the dining area and over to the table. He slowly peaked at the cookie platter he had left out before, seeing that what had been there not even a few hours ago was all gone. Crumbs were the only thing that remained on the plate, evidence that someone had eaten them.

The youthful vulpine's jaw dropped upon him looking over towards the where the Christmas tree was. _It's Santa Claws! I'm truly seeing Santa Claws!_

Over in that area of the house was rotund polar bear dressed in a deep red velvet suit. A large sack that was equally red in color was slung around his shoulder, and he let out a small grunt as he dropped it down onto the floor. There wasn't a doubt in Nick's mind that what he was carrying was heavy, considering what it contained.

He immediately pitter-pattered out of the room as quietly as possible, heading straight to his sister's bedroom. Once he was inside, the fox ran over towards her and started to tug at her arm.

"Sis," he whispered, trying to remain quiet but get her attention. "Sis, wake up."

Natalie pulled her arm and grunted, having been disturbed from her sleep. "Get out of my room, you fungus," she muttered groggily. "I told you not to come in here."

"But you gotta come out and see something," Nick responded, still maintaining a hushed tone of voice. "Santa's here right now. He ate the cookies I left him and he's by the tree. You gotta hurry up so you can see him."

Knowing that he wasn't going to disappear from her room as easily as she wanted him to, Natalie slowly pulled herself out of bed. As soon as she was up, her little brother yanked her by the paw and lead her to where he needed her to be. This was _not _she had planned for this time of night.

As she rubbed a crunched-up paw over her eye, she started to mutter silently, "Nick, if you drag me out here and there's nothing there, I _swear_ to-" After seeing what Nick had called her out to see, an awestruck look overcame her. "That's…"

"Santa Claws," Nick murmured. "I told you he was here."

It was just then that the white-furred bear turned his body around, noticing the two that had managed to see him. He looked a little bit surprised to see them, but started to take a few steps forward.

"Well…" he said, dusting off his red suit. "It isn't often that I have two wakers during my routes."

"N-No," Natalie muttered, shaking her head. "This _can't _be real right now. I'm probably just having a crazy dream, that's all. I'll wake up soon enough."

"That assumption would be expected from someone who lost their belief in me, Natalie," the polar bear replied.

The vixen's eyes, upon her hearing her name being spoken, started to widen. "But, h-how do you know my-"

The large mammal cloaked in red interrupted, "I remember the first letter you left for me. You wanted a royal palace playset that year, if my memory rings true." When Natalie nodded her head, confirming that he what he said was true, he continued, "In the years that followed, you were always so full of Christmas spirit, this huge smile always beaming across your face. But… after you lost your father, your love for the holidays, and belief in my existence, disappeared."

As she continued to hear the bear speak to her, Natalie couldn't help but start to cry. Nick looked up at his sister, noticing her tears before she wiped them from her eyes.

"You've remarked that you've wanted to see your father again more than any gift in the world, is that true?" Santa pointed a paw to the sack that had been laying on the floor to his left. "Reach inside. There is something special inside of it for you, Natalie."

The vixen did as she was instructed. What she pulled out looked, to her, like nothing more than just an ordinary bulb ornament, tinted in a cool blue color. As she looked at resting in her paw, she asked the polar bear, "What is this? Another ornament for the tree?"

The response she received was, "It might look like that at first glance, but I promise that it is extra special in a way you wouldn't think possible. Rub your paw over it and you'll see what I mean."

Rubbing her other paw over the ornament's surface as if she were summoning a genie from a lamp, Natalie noticed that it started it started glow within her grasp. Within the glow she her awestruck reflection staring back at her, being replaced with an image of her when she was little riding a wooden sled being pushed by her father.

"I can't give you your father in the flesh—not even someone as magical as I am can—but this was as close as I could get."

Just when she thought her tears were over, they started to take form once again. Only this time they were tears of joy and not sorrow. "How?" she muttered. "How did you do this?"

"I _am _the one and only Santa Claws, aren't I?" the polar bear said in response. Turning over to Natalie's little brother, he remarked, "And what about you, Nicholas? What was it that _you_ wanted this Christmas?"

Nick replied, "An action figure."

Santa remarked, "Ah, but not just any ordinary action figure. Your letter said that you wanted an action figure of the Vulpine Force, your favorite superheroes ever. It's waiting for you inside the bag."

His eyes aglow, he pulled a box, tied with glittery ribbon, from the red sack. Upon opening the rectangular package up, he saw the superhero toy that he had been dreaming of receiving since the holiday season started.

Reaching into his pocket, the elderly ursid pulled out a small mechanical watch hooked to a silver chain. After getting a glance at what the time was, he closed it up and looked back over at the two foxes.

"Well, I must be on my way," he said to them. "Time is of the essence, and I have many more kits that I need to deliver presents to." Turning his attention solely towards Nick, he remarked, "By the way, Nicholas, you were right about those cookies. Those truly were some of the best, and I've tasted _many_ different kinds in my time."

Smiling back at the bear, the fox replied, "Thank you."

Nick and his sister looked at each other, and when they turned their attention back to where the ursid had been standing, they noticed that he had disappeared.

Letting out a sigh, Natalie looked down at the ornament that she still had clutched in her paw. At that very moment in time, the vixen was more than certain about two things. Not only would this go down as the best Christmas ever, but she could now consider herself a believer in Santa Claws for life.


End file.
